


Candid Moments

by hyacinthis



Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game), NitW - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 23:03:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11114745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyacinthis/pseuds/hyacinthis
Summary: “Hey Mae,”Mae looks over at Gregg, still groggy from whatever hospital drugs she had been on.“Yeah?”“What’re you thinking about?” He asks. They can hear Angus snoring in the bedroom and Bea shifts on the ground next to them, slowly stretching in her sleep.“I dunno…” Mae murmurs, her voice breaking. “I just… Miss Casey a lot.”





	Candid Moments

**Author's Note:**

> I think a lot about Casey and Mae being in a relationship before Mae met Cole. I think they had a thing through mots of middle and high school. Mae still has feelings for him, she just wants to believe she's moved on.  
> I imagine this is in the summer before their senior year.

“Come on, take a puff, it won’t kill you.”

Mae eyes the joint warily, ear twitching. She glances up at the orange cat next to her, then back down to the joint in his hand.

“It very well could for all we know it could.” Mae answers with a shy grin. “I’ve never smoked before.”

Casey scoots closer to Mae, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing her gently. She smiles, looking down at her legs, kicking them slowly.

“Mae, you know I wouldn’t do anything that could put you in danger.” He says, nuzzling beneath her ear. “Besides, Angus is driving home. We’re fine.”

Mae rolls her eyes, taking it from him and taking a slow drag. She inhales it slowly, like he taught her, then hands it back to him. Maybe she’ll feel better. Maybe she won’t feel like she’s fucking crazy. She pulls her knees to her chest, resting her head of soft, dark hair on them. 

“Where is Angus anyways?” She asks, looking around. As much as she adores Casey, she’s been known to get a little stupid when around him alone. She needs someone to keep her from embarrassing herself. “And Gregg?”

“Oh, I think they’re still in the car.” Casey says through a mouthful of smoke. “They’re like making out or something.”

Mae smiles and lays back, resting her hands behind her head and staring up at the stars. As creepy as the woods are, they’re pretty at night. With all the stars up above… She hates Possum Springs but she’s glad it isn’t a big city. If it was, she wouldn’t be able to see the stars so clearly. 

Casey lays down next to her, handing her the joint. She takes another drag, coughing slightly. She hears Casey snicker and she elbows him, taking yet another drag to prove that she’s fine. joint. She takes another drag and coughs a little, Casey snickering. Mae huffs and elbows Casey in the ribs, taking yet another drag to prove she knows what she’s doing. She hands him the joint again and stares up at the little white dots in the sky. She can feel Casey’s eyes on her, but she keeps staring upwards. Casey can be weird sometimes, but she doesn't mind. They can be weird together.

She doesn’t look up until she hears Casey start wiggling across the leaves towards her. He lays his head on her chest and wraps his arms around his middle, being careful not to burn her with the joint. She wouldn't mind if he did. She would probably thank him.

“Mae?” He murmurs. She can feel him purring.

“Casey.”

“I’m super worried about you, Mae Mae.”

Mae crinkles her nose. “Pfft, why?”

“You know why.”

They’re both suddenly silent, Casey staring at a tree across from them and Mae staring up at the sky. She reaches down and snatches the blunt away from him, raising it to her lips and taking three deep drags in a row. Then it hits. She feels more relaxed, like she’s slowly sinking down into the ground. But it’s a good feeling. She doesn’t feel panicked like she always does. She rests one hand on Casey’s head and the other on the ground next to him. He gently rubs her arm as she scratches between his ears, sighing slowly.

“Mae, you’re not yourself lately.” He whispers.

“What do you mean.” She phrases it more as a statement than she does as a question. She knows it exactly what he means.

“You’re not _you_. You don’t like to do the things you usually do, you’re always locked up at home, you rarely go out past dark anymore. What’s wrong?” 

Mae keeps staring, resting her hand on his head. She doesn’t move, she doesn’t even breathe for a second. She thought she had been hiding it pretty well. Hadn’t she? Gregg hadn’t noticed and they had been best friends since… Forever. Or maybe he had noticed, he just wasn’t saying anything. He was that kind of person. Gregg didn’t like to butt into other people’s business a lot. If Mae really needed to talk to him, she would. That’s how their friendship was. That’s how it worked.

“Mae. Mae. Mae! _Margaret!_ ”

“Don’t call me that.” Mae says, suddenly pulled out of her thoughts.

“Then answer me.”

She blinks then looks at Casey. He’s sitting up now, holding both of her shoulders. Her hand has moved to the back of his neck and the joint is still between her fingers, ash falling into her fur. Her ear twitches. This feels like some stupid coming of age movie.

“Casey,” she murmured, her voice breaking without her meaning to. “I… How... It’s…” She can’t get her thoughts out, she can’t form words.

No matter what she does, she can’t compose her thoughts. She can’t describe it. Suddenly, the nice high from the blunt is gone and everything is cold. It doesn’t feel like summer anymore, it’s cold like December. Not like July. And everything is shapes and blobs. Even Casey. And Casey if never shapes and blobs. She sits up abruptly, pulling away and taking quick, shallow drags from the blunt, one after the other, barely giving herself time to breathe. 

_Please no, please no. Not Casey, anyone but Casey._ She thinks.

“Hey!” Casey exclaims, scooting over to her. He stands and snatches the blunt from her fingers, throwing it down into the ground and stomping on it. 

“What the fuck, Casey?!” She snaps.

“No! What the fuck, _Mae?!_ Just fucking answer me!” He exclaims back, walking over to her.

Mae stands, staring at the orange-ish red-ish conglomeration of shapes and blobs and fuzziness in front of her. She can barely register his words. Before she can even stop herself, she pulls her arm back and punches Casey square in the jaw. He stumbles back, staring at her with wide eyes. She comes to a little and she can see the blurred outline of Gregg and Angus staring at them.

“Hey guys… What… What happened to the weed?” Gregg asks, confused and trying to ease the tension.

Mae feels a lump form in her throat and she stares at Casey, feeling her breathing hitch. She turns on her heel, sprinting as quickly as she can through the woods.

“Mae!” Angus calls after her, taking a step towards the direction she ran in. Casey puts up his hand and shakes his head.

“I got it, you guys stay here.” He pulls another blunt from his sock and tosses it at them before sprinting after Mae.

She finally stops at a small puddle, leaning against a tree and panting heavily. Mae starts sobbing, wrapping her arms around the tree and slowly sinking to her knees. She presses her face into them, sobbing louder than she would like to. She feels her body shake and her ear keeps twitching, even when she removes one of her arms from around the tree to hold it still.

“Fuck!” She screams, standing and kicking the tree as hard as she can. She starts pacing, pulling at her fur. “I hate you, I hate you, _I hate you! I wish you would just die!_ ”

“Mae…” Casey pants, standing a few feet away from her.

“Go away, Casey.” She whimpers, rubbing her eyes. “Just… Go hang out with Gregg and Angus, I’m fine.”

“No you’re not, you fuck.” He sighs, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her.

She squirms at first, punching and hitting at his chest until she finally gives up. She wraps her arms around him and presses her face into his neck, sobbing loudly. Casey is shocked and overwhelmed and too high to do this, but he does it anyways. He squeezes her tightly and rests his head on hers.

“Mae…”

“You’ve never been just shapes like that, Casey! It’s always been everyone else, not you!”

“Mae, it’s just the high.”

“No it’s not! No it’s _fucking_ not! It’s like this all the time but it’s never been you it’s.. It’s never been you, Casey, I don’t want it to be you! You’re the only good fucking thing goin’ for me right now!”

Casey squeezes her tightly and presses kisses between her ears, cupping the back of her head as she absolutely screams into his neck. He doesn’t understand, but he understands that something isn’t right. Something isn’t right. Mae has never been like this before. Mae is so strong and so resilient. He didn’t even know she could get like this.

“Mae.. Mae, listen to me.” He pulls her teary face from his neck and forces her to look at him. “Whatever this is, it’s not gonna be permanent… Okay? It’s… It’s…”

Casey’s words come to a slow stop and he pulls Mae back to him, pressing his lips to hers. Mae whimpers, kissing him back and gripping onto him. They stay like that for a while, lip locked as Mae’s sobbing starts to calm. Casey pulls away slowly, looking down at her and kissing her nose, then her forehead, then pecking her lips again.

“Casey, you can’t ever leave, okay?” She murmurs. “I love you too fuckin’ much man.”

“I love you too, Mae.”

“I love you too, Casey.”

“I love you too, Mae.”

~

“Hey Mae,” 

Mae looks over at Gregg, still groggy from whatever hospital drugs she had been on.

“Yeah?”

“What’re you thinking about?” He asks. They can hear Angus snoring in the bedroom and Bea shifts on the ground next to them, slowly stretching in her sleep.

“I dunno…” Mae murmurs, her voice breaking. “I just… Miss Casey a lot.”


End file.
